DOLE to set up help desk in Oman for stranded Pinoys

MANILA, Philippines - Six months after the problem broke out, the Labor department will set up a Filipino help desk at the Al-Buraimi border in Oman for Filipinos stranded due to a row over visas to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). An article on the Labor department website said the stranded Filipinos there are waiting for their new reentry visas to UAE, or repatriation to the Philippines. Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said a team will profile the skills and abilities of the stranded OFWs to facilitate their search for employment. The search for employment will cover jobs in UAE or any other country, in coordination with the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in Oman, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi. Roque, citing a report from Muscat-based Labor Attache Romeo Young, said problems affecting the Filipinos staying at Al-Buraimi began to crop up when UAE changed its visa laws. The DOLE website article quoted Young as saying the problems started as early as July 2008. Al-Buraimi is an oasis town in northeastern Oman on the UAE border. Before the UAE imposed new immigration laws, Filipinos with expired UAE visas exit to this area while waiting for new re-entry UAE visas that can be acquired in three to five days. But now, the issuance of new reentry visas in UAE now takes up to one month. If the visa is not released within the 30-day period, the applicant can wait for up to another 30 days upon payment of 100 dirhams. Roque said that due to the long waiting period, the number of Filipinos staying at Al-Buraimi increased each day and even reached the thousands in the third quarter of 2008. But he said the turnover of Filipinos staying in several hotels at Al-Buraimi has been constant and fast as soon as they get hold of their reentry visas to UAE. There were also Filipinos who chose to be repatriated to the Philippines, he added. As of Jan. 11, 2009, Roque said only 782 Filipinos were staying at Buraimi, Bagwan, Jawhara, and Al Saleem Hotels in the Al-Buraimi border. An Omani hotel manager had good words for their Filipino guests saying "they are good and clean." Roque said the help desk shall provide them the necessary assistance to help them in their concerns including their search for appropriate employment in the UAE or in any country where their skills are needed. He said the desk should pave the way for more expeditious turnover of OFWs and other Filipinos staying temporarily at Al-Buraimi while waiting for their fresh UAE visas. - GMANews.TV